Because of the way the nation's capital was set up by the Constitution, Congress is allowed to meddle in the local affairs of the District of Columbia. Unfortunately, the Republicans in the House have decided that what the District of Columbia needs is more guns. Yesterday, Republican Congressman Thomas Massey of Kentucky, contrary to the wishes of the District of Columbia elected officials and citizens, proposed an amendment to the District of Columbia budget that would not allow the District to enforce its own gun laws. The amendment passed the House 242 to 181.
The Elected Officials in the District of Columbia were not pleased with Congressman Massey or his amendment.
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) credited the District’s gun laws with helping to drive down violent crime, while Alfred Durham, an assistant D.C. police chief, said the amendment would make it harder for officers to protect the city.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/....
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton stated that the amendment:
presents a clear and present danger to our more than 600,000 residents, as well as to the 20 million visitors who come to the nation’s capital annually from all over the world and the cabinet and other federal officials who frequent our public places.
http://norton.house.gov/...
The District of Columbia's gun laws
are among the tightest in the nation, restricting the open or concealed carrying of guns outside the home, banning assault-type rifles and high-capacity magazines, and requiring gun owners to register their weapons with D.C. police.
. . .
Gray cited the Navy Yard shooting last September, in which the mentally ill perpetrator purchased his gun outside of the city, as evidence that the District’s gun laws were beneficial.
“That gun was not purchased in the District of Columbia,” Gray said. “That gun was not gotten from the District of Columbia. It came from a neighboring state, Virginia, whose gun laws are far more permissive than the District of Columbia and doesn’t have the level of background checks that we have.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/....
Should the Massey amendment become law, it will only result in more crime in the District of Columbia, a jurisdiction that has struggled with the problem of gun related crimes. Whether the Massey Amendment becomes law depends on the position taken by the U.S. Senate.
Also, FYI--20 democrats joined the Republicans in voting in favor of the Massey Amendment. There is a list of the Democrats in Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees' diary "Which 20 Democrats Voted to Gun DC's Gun Laws
http://www.dailykos.com/...